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      Republicans aim to pass national ‘don’t say gay’ law

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      Republicans aim to pass national ‘don’t say gay’ law Measure introduced in Congress would prohibit federal money from being used to teach children under 10 about LGBTQ issues Congressional Republicans introduced a measure Tuesday that would prohibit federal money from being used to teach children under 10 about LGBTQ issues.The bill would prohibit the use of federal funds to teach children about “sexually-oriented material” as well as “any topic involving gender identity, gender dysphoria, transgenderism, sexual orientation, or related subjects”. The effects of such a law, if enacted, would be far-reaching since a range of institutions – schools, libraries, among them – receive public money.Universities, public schools, hospitals, medical clinics, etc. could all be defunded if they host any event discussing LGBTQ people and children could be present. The way they define “sexually oriented material” simply includes anything about LGBTQ people.— Alejandra Caraballo (@Esqueer_) October 18, 2022
      The bill also gives parents the ability to sue in federal court if their child is exposed to the barred material that is funded “in whole or in part” by federal funds.I can’t overstate how radical the private right of action portion is. The bill is so broadly defined that a pediatric hospital could be sued for having a pride flag or a medical pamphlet about gender dysphoria. It deputizes anti-LGBTQ bigots to engage in bounty lawsuits.— Alejandra Caraballo (@Esqueer_) October 18, 2022
      The bill was introduced by Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, and 32 other GOP members of Congress.“The Democrat party and their cultural allies are on a misguided crusade to immerse young children in sexual imagery and radical gender ideology,” he said in a statement. “This commonsense bill is straightforward. No federal tax dollars should go to any federal, state, or local government agencies, or private organizations that intentionally expose children under 10 years of age to sexually explicit material.”The bill is unlikely to become law while Democrats control the US senate and White House, but it underscores how Republicans have zeroed in on anti-LGBTQ issues as a way of rallying their base.Earlier this year Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, signed a law that barred schools from teaching about sexual orientation or gender identity until third grade, “or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards”.More than a dozen states introduced so-called “don’t say gay” bills this year.Republicans have also targeted drag shows as part of this anti-LGBTQ effort. Idaho lawmakers will reportedly consider a measure to ban drag shows in public.TopicsRepublicansLGBTQ+ rightsUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      Biden to release 15m barrels from strategic reserve in effort to tamp down gas prices – as it happened

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      Here’s a quick summary of what happened today:
      Joe Biden announced the release of 15m barrels of petroleum from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a move he says will keep gas prices down. Biden pushed back on criticism that the timing of the announcement, which confirmed plans to release barrels from the reserve, was politically motivated by the looming midterms.
      John Fetterman, a key Democratic candidate in the US senate race in Pennsylvania, released a detailed doctor’s report that said he is fit to work and fully serve in office following a stroke in May. This was the first official medical report from Fetterman since June.
      At a speech at a conservative think tank, Mike Pence criticized the Republican party for straying from its values and said the party should be cautious of developing an isolationist mindset, particularly regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
      A district court judge said that emails from Donald Trump’s attorney, John Eastman – a key architect in his plan to overthrow the 2020 election – should be released to the House special committee investigating the insurrection. The judge said emails from Eastman prove Trump signed legal documents that contained information on election fraud that he knew was false.
      We’ll be closing the blog for today, but we will be back tomorrow with more live politics updates. A US district court judge said that Donald Trump signed legal documents that contained evidence of election fraud that he knew was false, Politico is reporting. Based on emails from Trump attorney John Eastman, “President Trump knew that the specific numbers of voter fraud were wrong but continued to tout those numbers, both in court and to the public,” wrote district court judge David Carter in an opinion. The opinion said that Eastman’s emails need to be turned over to the House select committee investigating the insurrection. Eastman refused to turn over their emails, citing attorney-client privilege. Carter wrote that while most of the emails may remain private, “the Court finds that these four documents are sufficiently related to and in furtherance of the obstruction crime”.A majority of Americans believe Donald Trump should testify over his involvement in the January 6 insurrection on the US Capitol, according to a Monmouth University poll released today. Six out of 10 Americans polled said that Trump should have to testify before the House committee investigating the attack. Unsurprisingly, Democrats and Republicans were split on whether Trump should have to testify, with 89% of Democrats saying he should and 67% of Republicans saying he shouldn’t. Most independents, 61%, said that he should have to testify, and only 34% said he should not have to appear at all. The American people: “We feel bad for the country, but this would be tremendous content.”60% of Americans want Trump to testify before the Jan. 6 committee, according to a new Monmouth poll; 77% say it should be public if he does. https://t.co/RBXB6IMo40 pic.twitter.com/WATj0owRcO— Kevin Robillard 🇺🇸 (@Robillard) October 19, 2022
      It is unclear whether Trump will testify before the House committee, which concluded its public hearings which it says proves Trump’s involvement in the attack by voting to subpoena Trump. A formal subpoena will likely be issued this week. Trump’s public response so far has been a rambling letter addressed to representative Bennie Thompson, who chairs the special committee. Sources close to Trump said last week that he is considering testifying in front of the committee. The committee said they do not expect to make criminal referrals to the department of justice, though they have laid out their findings to help federal investigators.A group of four members of Joe Biden’s Covid advisory board just published an op-ed in the New York Times saying that there needs to be more work to address the pandemic.“We are deeply dismayed by what has been left undone,” the group, which includes Ezekial Emanuel, David Michaels, Rick Bright and Michael Osterholm, wrote. “There were many opportunities that would have permanently improved American health and the public health system. They have not yet been pursued.”“There is no question other health crises lie ahead. We need to assess the opportunities squandered or missed in the Covid pandemic and seize them now.”The group wrote that rapid, low-cost at-home-testing could be used to detect multiple infections at once. But there is no comprehensive reporting system for individuals to submit their at-home test results to public health agencies, “rendering a broad swath of infections across the country invisible to officials trying to slow their spread.”The writers note that much of the blame for inaction can be put on the lack of funding from Congress, but “not all [are] attributable to financial limitations”.They write that one big missed opportunity was one to enhance indoor air quality, particularly in schools. They recommend improving national indoor air quality standards, with focuses on schools, nursing homes, assisted-living facilities, jails and prisons and other high-risk settings.Better data collection, more paid sick leave, stronger vaccine outreach and better domestic production of medical supplies were also needed during the pandemic, they wrote.“The list could go on and on, including the poor response to long Covid.”In a speech at conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, Mike Pence criticized the direction of the Republican party saying, “I think we need to chart a course that doesn’t veer off too far in either direction.” “Our movement cannot forsake the foundational commitment that we have to security, to limited government, to liberty and to life,” Pence said. “But nor can we allow our movement to be led astray by the siren song of unprincipled populism that’s unmoored from our oldest traditions and most cherished values.” Pence seemed to criticize the “America First” mindset, particularly in the midst of Russia invasion of Ukraine. “As Russia continues its unconscionable war of aggression to Ukraine, I believe that conservatives must make ti clear that Putin must stop and Putin will pay,” he said. “There can be no room in the conservative movement for apologists to Putin. There is only room in this movement for champions of freedom.” Pence at Heritage Foundation making an impassioned plea to continue to help Ukraine. There are those in the movement that “would have us disengage with the wider world,” he says. “But appeasement has never worked.”— Caitlin Huey-Burns (@CHueyBurns) October 19, 2022
      Opposition to isolationist ideals has not stopped Pence from endorsing candidates who have ultimately voiced opposition to involvement in the conflict, including Blake Masters, who is running for an Arizona US senate seat and called the war a “European problem”.Mehmet Oz, who is running as the Republican candidate in a key senate race, responded to today’s announcement from his opponent, John Fetterman, that a doctor clear Fetterman to work after a stroke in May. “That’s good news that John Fetterman’s doctor gave him a clean bill of health… Now that he is apparently healthy, he can debate for 90 minutes, start taking live questions from voters and reporters, and do a second debate now too,” a campaign spokesperson said. Oz senior comms adviser Rachel Tripp responds: “That’s good news that John Fetterman’s doctor gave him a clean bill of health…now that he apparently is healthy, he can debate for 90 minutes, start taking live questions from voters and reporters, and do a second debate now too.”— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) October 19, 2022
      Oz and other Republicans have been using Fetterman’s stroke as an attack against him, saying that he is unfit to be in office. Fetterman’s campaign, on the other hand, has carefully been talking about his stroke as a way to gain empathy from voters. At a rally in Wallingford, Pennsylvania, Fetterman asked the audience if they or a loved one had ever dealt with a serious health issue, and nearly every hand went up. Until the doctor’s report that was released, the last official medical update from Fetterman’s campaign on his health was released in June. At his press conference moments ago announcing the release of petroleum from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Joe Biden was asked to comment on criticism that he was making the announcement for political reasons ahead of the midterms.“I’ve been doing this for how many months now? It’s not politically motivated at all. Its motivation is to make sure that I continue to push on what I’ve been pushing on. And that is making sure there’s enough oil being pumped by the companies so that we have the ability to produce enough gas that we need here at home,” Biden said. “The problem is these guys were asleep. I don’t know where they’ve been.’”Joe Biden spoke on the release of 15m barrels of petroleum from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a move to seemingly signal to voters ahead of the midterms the White House’s efforts to tamper gas prices. Biden announced earlier this year that the energy department will be released 180m barrels from the strategic reserve this year. The 15m barrels announced today will complete the 180m barrels promised by the White House. The administration says the release will add 500,000 barrels per day of supply to the market in December. In a speech, Biden pointed to the war in Ukraine as the main reason for increasing gas prices and said that he “acted decisively” over the summer, and gas prices in turn have dropped $1.50 per gallon since their peak over the summer. “That’s progress, but they’re not falling fast enough,” Biden said. Gas prices are felt in almost every family in this country. It squeezes family budgets when the price of gas goes up, and other expenses get cut. That’s why I’ve been doing everything in my power to reduce gas prices.” “With my announcement today, we’re going to continue to stabilize markets and decrease the price at a time when the actions of other countries have caused such volatility.” Biden said that he has instructed his team to look into further releases from the reserve in the months ahead if needed. He also defended his administration against “myths” that he has slowed gas production.“Quite the opposite. We’re producing 12m barrels of oil per day. And by the end of the year, we will be producing 1m barrels a day – more than the day in which I took office.” Biden also said that the administration will repurchase crude oil from the strategic reserve once prices fall to $67 to $72 a barrel, incentivizing production for the future, and called on oil and gas companies to pass lower energy costs to consumers.Donald Trump in 2021 asked a group of people whether a Jewish documentary filmmaker was “a good Jewish character”, according to a video of the former president that was released as part of footage that was subpoenaed by the House special committee investigating the January 6 insurrection, the New York Times reports. The interaction was recorded by documentary filmmaker Alex Holder at an event at Trump’s New Jersey golf club in May 2021. Trump, speaking to several people, was responding to a woman’s comment about “Jews who didn’t vote for you”. Trump reportedly started talking about how he signed an executive order in 2019 that recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, yet he still polled low with Jewish voters in the US. “In Israel, I’m at like 94 percent, but I got 27, 28 percent [in the US],” Trump said at the time. “In Israel, I’m the most popular. With Orthodox, I’m the most popular.” Trump points to Holder, who is Jewish, “is this a good Jewish character right here?” At the end of the clip, before it cuts off, Trump asks, “You Persian? Very smart. Be careful, they’re very good salesmen.” News of the clip comes on the heels of a post Trump made on his social media platform Truth Social in which he lamented the lack of Jewish support for him despite his pro-Israel policies. “No president has done more for Israel than I have. Somewhat surprisingly, however, our wonderful Evangelicals are far more appreciative of this than the people of Jewish faith, especially those living gin the US,” he wrote. “US Jews have to get their act together and appreciate what they have in Israel – before it is too late!”The Guardian’s voting rights reporter Sam Levine writes: Georgia has seen an “astounding” increase in turnout through the first two days of in person early voting, the state’s top election official said on Wednesday.Early voting began on Monday in the state, where there are closely watched gubernatorial and senate races. 268,050 people voted in person during the first two days. At the same point in the 2020 presidential election, 266,403 had voted in person. That differential is notable because presidential elections usually have higher turnout than midterms. At the same point in the 2018 midterms, 147,289 people had voted in person.Georgia has been at the center of high-stakes battles over voting access and this is the first general a new law with sweeping new voting restrictions is in effect. The law shortens the window in which voters can request a mail-in ballot and places new identification requirements on both the mail-in ballot application and ballot itself. Stacey Abrams, the gubernatorial candidate for governor, as well as voting rights groups are encouraging voters to cast their ballots as early as possible to avoid any issues.Republicans in the past have pointed to surging turnout to push back on accusations of voter suppression. But voting advocates say that is misleading and does not take into account the increased obstacles voters face in getting to the polls, even if they are able to navigate them successfully.John Fetterman’s primary care physician said the Democratic senate candidate for Pennsylvania has no restrictions “and can work full duty in public office” following a stroke in May. Fetterman’s campaign released a detailed medical report today based on an examination that took place on Friday. His doctor, Clifford Chen, said that Fetterman’s strength was normal and has no coordination deficits. He also noted that he “spoke intelligently without cognitive deficits”.Fetterman continues to show symptoms of auditory processing disorder (trouble understanding certain spoken words) but “his communication is significantly improved compared to his first visit, assisted by speech therapy, which he has attended on a regular basis since the stroke.” Currently the lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, Fetterman is in a heated election for an open Senate seat against celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz, who is running as a Trump-endorsed Republican. Fetterman’s campaign celebrated the doctor’s report on Wednesday. “Bad news for Dr. Oz, who has been rooting hard against my recovery: I’m doing great + remain fully ready to serve,” Fetterman tweeted. Bad news for Dr. Oz, who has been rooting hard against my recovery: I’m doing great + remain fully ready to serveSo grateful to all of you who’ve stood with me. I’ll be fighting for each and every one of you in D.C. ❤️ https://t.co/RMUCsGpOpG— John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) October 19, 2022
      Polls have shown Fetterman with a slight lead over Oz, though Oz has been narrowing the gap over the last week as the GOP has been hitting voters hard with messaging about Democrats and the economy.The Texas state government is sending DNA and fingerprint identification kits to parents with kids in kindergarten through eight grade in case of an emergency. The law that established the kit distribution was passed in 2021 and was meant to “help locate and return a missing or trafficked child”, though the timing of the kits’ distribution has reminded parents of the Uvalde shooting, where 19 children and two adults were killed. In the aftermath of the shooting, parents were asked for DNA samples of their children to help medical examiners identify the victims. AR-15s, the type of gun that was used in the shooting, is a powerful weapon that can leave victims unrecognizable. Brett Cross, the father of a student who was killed in Uvalde, tweeted of the kits: “Yeah! Awesome! Let’s identify kids after they’ve been murdered instead of fixing issues that could ultimately prevent them from being murdered. It’s like wiping your ass before you take a shit.” Yeah! Awesome! Let’s identify kids after they’ve been murdered instead of fixing issues that could ultimately prevent them from being murdered. It’s like wiping your ass before you take a shit. https://t.co/1V3i1lIfTc— Brett Cross (@BCross052422) October 18, 2022
      Kits have started to be distributed this week. Parents are not obligated to send in DNA samples, though schools are obligated to inform parents about the kits.House speaker Nancy Pelosi said in an interview published today that Democrats need “to message [inflation] better in the next three weeks ahead” but ultimately expressed optimism over the election.“Inflation’s an issue, but it’s global,” she said. “What’s [Republicans’] plan? They ain’t go nothing.”.@PunchbowlNews AM: Our wide-ranging interview with @SpeakerPelosi. Here’s Pelosi on inflation: “We’ll have to message on it better.”Much more here: https://t.co/lhCIUjCrLg pic.twitter.com/AcbALvTV4K— Punchbowl News (@PunchbowlNews) October 19, 2022
      Pelosi also said that the key for Democrats will be turnout. “We know the public is with us. But it’s about turnout. So I’m excited. We’ve outraised them, except for their big, dark money, which is endless.”When asked whether she’s worried about House minority leader Kevin McCarthy becoming speaker after the elections, Pelosi said: “We’re going to win this election so I don’t even entertain that notion. But it should be of concern to the Republicans.”Polls are showing a more uncertain future for Democrats, who have been slammed by Republicans over the economy and inflation over the last few weeks. A recent CBS News/YouGov survey found Democrats were two points behind Republicans on the congressional ballot.Democrats are using these next three weeks to try to electrify their base, sending out some of their prominent members to stump for candidates and encourage voters to head to the polls. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is heading west to speak to young voters at the University of California Irvine this Sunday. Irvine is in US representative Katie Porter’s swing district. .@AOC is heading to UC Irvine this Sunday to rally young voters: pic.twitter.com/nVXJMgx3Xc— Nicholas Wu (@nicholaswu12) October 18, 2022
      Meanwhile senator Bernie Sanders is heading to eight states for at least 19 events over the next two weeks, including California, Nevada, Texas and Florida. “It’s about energizing our base and increasing voter turnout up and down the ballot,” Sanders told the New York Times. “I am a little bit concerned [about] energy level for young people, working-class people… And I want to see what I can do about that.” Last week, Barack Obama’s team announced that the former president will be heading to Milkwaukee to rally for Mandela Barnes, who is looking to unseat Republican incumbent Ron Johnson in a seat that Democrats see as vulnerable.Herschel Walker, the Republican candidate in a heated Georgia senate race against Democrat Raphael Warnock, is planning to hand out fake law enforcement badges that say “I’m with Herschel” as part of his campaign. During a debate with Warnock last week, Walker held up an honorary deputy sheriff’s badge after Warnock attacked him on his claims of being a law enforcement officer. Walker has never been a trained officer, though he has received the endorsement of law enforcement groups. In the debate, the moderator told Walker that props are not allowed on the debate stage.“Let’s talk about the truth,” Walker said while holding his honorary badge. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D): “One thing I have not done — I have never pretended to be a police officer, and I’ve never threatened a shootout with the police.”In response, Herschel Walker (R) pulled out a prop badge: “I am work with many police officers.” pic.twitter.com/Wyh6oYD9zB— Heartland Signal (@HeartlandSignal) October 14, 2022
      Now, Walker’s campaign told NBC News that it has ordered 1,000 imitation badges as part of his campaign. “Herschel Walker has been a friend to law enforcement and has a record of honoring police, said Gail Gitcho, Walker’s campaign strategist. “If Senator Warnock wants to highlight this, then bring it on.”Steve Bannon, the former chief strategist in the Trump White House who is at the forefront of the Republican march toward hard-right populism, is throwing his weight behind a movement to radically rewrite the US constitution.Bannon has devoted recent episodes of his online show the War Room to a well-funded operation which has stealthily gained ground over the past two years. Backed by billionaire donors and corporate interests, it aims to persuade state legislatures to call a constitutional convention in the hope of baking far-right conservative values into the supreme law of the land.The goal is, in essence, to turn the country into a permanent conservative nation irrespective of the will of the American people. The convention would promote policies that would limit the size and scope of the federal government, set ceilings on or even abolish taxes, free corporations from regulations, and impose restrictions on government action in areas such as abortion, guns and immigration.“This is another line of attack strategically,” Bannon told his viewers last month. “You now have a political movement that understands we need to go after the administrative state.”By “administrative state”, Bannon was referring to the involvement of the federal government and Congress in central aspects of modern American life. That includes combating the climate crisis, setting educational standards and fighting health inequities.Mark Meckler, a founder of the Tea Party who now leads one of the largest groups advocating for the tactic, the Convention of States Action (Cosa), spelled out some of the prime objectives on Bannon’s show. “We need to say constitutionally, ‘No, the federal government cannot be involved in education, or healthcare, or energy, or the environment’,” he said.Meckler went on to divulge the anti-democratic nature of the state convention movement when he said a main aim was to prevent progressive policies being advanced through presidential elections. “The problem is, any time the administration swings back to Democrat – or radical progressive, or Marxist which is what they are – we are going to lose the gains. So you do the structural fix.”The “structural fix” involves Republican state legislatures pushing conservative amendments to America’s foundational document. By cementing the policies into the US constitution, they would become largely immune to electoral challenge.Inside Steve Bannon’s ‘disturbing’ quest to radically rewrite the US constitutionRead moreFlorida senator Marco Rubio had an intense debate last night with his opponent, Val Demings, currently a US representative. Demings, who is trying to be Florida’s first Black senator, pushed Rubio on issues ranging from abortion to gun control. Rubio, who is running for a third term, would not confirm whether he would support a federal ban on abortion that has no exceptions for rape on incest but sai, “every bill I have ever sponsored on abortion and every bill I’ve ever voted for has exceptions.” Demings responded by saying, “What we know is that the senator supports no exceptions. He can make his mouth say anything today. He is good at that, by the way. What day is it and what is Marco Rubio saying?” On gun control, Demings asked Rubio, “How long will you watch people being gunned down in first grade, fourth grade, school, college, church, synagogue, grocery store, movie theater, a mall and a nightclub and do nothing,” she asked. Demings is in an uphill battle trying to unseat Rubio in a state that has gone further to the right in recent years. Earlier this month, a poll showed Demings six points behind Rubio.Good morning, and welcome to the politics live blog. Joe Biden is set to announce the release of 15m barrels of gas from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve later today as the administration attempts to tamp down gas prices.The national average for gas prices stands at $3.85 a gallon today, according to AAA, slightly higher than the $3.34 a gallon that was seen this time last year. But it’s still lower than this summer, when gas peaked at over $5 a gallon.The move is Biden’s attempt to mitigate growing concerns over the economy as the midterms approach. Democratic candidates in heated races across the country have been facing attacks from their Republican candidates over inflation, which stood at 8.2% in September. Biden will make the announcement around 1 pm today.Here’s what else we’re watching:
      Donald Trump is heading to DC court today for a deposition in the lawsuit brought by former magazine columnist E Jean Carroll, who accused Trump of sexual assault. Carroll is suing Trump for defamation.
      A Politico/Morning consult poll shows that Republicans may have an edge over Democrats in the midterms due to the economy: 81% say the economy will play a major role in their vote, and 80% said the same about inflation.
      Stay tuned for more live updates. More

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      Inside Steve Bannon’s ‘disturbing’ quest to radically rewrite the US constitution

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      Inside Steve Bannon’s ‘disturbing’ quest to radically rewrite the US constitution By taking over state legislatures, Republicans hope to pass conservative amendments that cannot be electorally challengedSteve Bannon, the former chief strategist in the Trump White House who is at the forefront of the Republican march toward hard-right populism, is throwing his weight behind a movement to radically rewrite the US constitution.Bannon has devoted recent episodes of his online show the War Room to a well-funded operation which has stealthily gained ground over the past two years. Backed by billionaire donors and corporate interests, it aims to persuade state legislatures to call a constitutional convention in the hope of baking far-right conservative values into the supreme law of the land.The goal is, in essence, to turn the country into a permanent conservative nation irrespective of the will of the American people. The convention would promote policies that would limit the size and scope of the federal government, set ceilings on or even abolish taxes, free corporations from regulations, and impose restrictions on government action in areas such as abortion, guns and immigration.“This is another line of attack strategically,” Bannon told his viewers last month. “You now have a political movement that understands we need to go after the administrative state.”By “administrative state”, Bannon was referring to the involvement of the federal government and Congress in central aspects of modern American life. That includes combating the climate crisis, setting educational standards and fighting health inequities.Mark Meckler, a founder of the Tea Party who now leads one of the largest groups advocating for the tactic, the Convention of States Action (Cosa), spelled out some of the prime objectives on Bannon’s show. “We need to say constitutionally, ‘No, the federal government cannot be involved in education, or healthcare, or energy, or the environment’,” he said.Meckler went on to divulge the anti-democratic nature of the state convention movement when he said a main aim was to prevent progressive policies being advanced through presidential elections. “The problem is, any time the administration swings back to Democrat – or radical progressive, or Marxist which is what they are – we are going to lose the gains. So you do the structural fix.”The “structural fix” involves Republican state legislatures pushing conservative amendments to America’s foundational document. By cementing the policies into the US constitution, they would become largely immune to electoral challenge.Were a convention achieved, it would mark the zenith of conservative state power in American politics. Over the past 12 years, since the eruption of the Tea Party, Republicans have extended their grip to more than half of the states in the country, imposing an increasingly far-right agenda on the heartlands.Now the plan is to take that dominance nationwide.Article V of the constitution lays out two distinct ways in which America’s core document, ratified in 1788, can be revised. In practice, all 27 amendments that have been added over the past 244 years have come through the first route – a Congress-led process whereby two-thirds of both the US House and Senate have to approve changes followed by ratification by three-quarters of the states. Meckler, working alongside other powerful interest groups and wealthy rightwing megadonors, is gunning for Article V’s second route – one that has never been tried before. It gives state legislatures the power to call a constitutional convention of their own, should two-thirds of all 50 states agree.A bar chart of party control of state legislatures since 1978.The state-based model for rewriting the US constitution is perhaps the most audacious attempt yet by hard-right Republicans to secure what amounts to conservative minority rule in which a minority of lawmakers representing less-populated rural states dictate terms to the majority of Americans. Russ Feingold, a former Democratic US senator from Wisconsin, told the Guardian that “they want to rewrite the constitution in a fundamental way that is not just conservative, it is minoritarian. It will prevent the will of ‘we the people’ being heard.”Feingold has co-authored with Peter Prindiville of the Stanford constitutional law center The Constitution in Jeopardy, a new book that sounds the alarm on the states-based convention movement. “Our goal is not to scare people, but to alert them that there is a movement on the far right that is quietly getting itself to a point where it will be almost impossible to stop a convention being called,” he said.His urgency is underlined by how active the movement has become. A convention resolution framed by Cosa has passed so far this year in four states – Wisconsin, Nebraska, West Virginia and South Carolina.The group has also been busy around November’s midterm elections, using its muscle and some $600,000 (£528,252) of its reserves to support candidates amenable to the idea. “We have built the largest grassroots activist army in American history,” Meckler told Bannon, probably hyperbolically.Bannon’s other guest on the War Room, Rick Santorum, a former Republican US senator from Pennsylvania who advises Cosa, told Bannon: “This is something that can happen very quickly. We are a lot further along than people think.”They are also much better funded than people might think. The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), which monitors the constitutional convention movement, estimates that it pulled in $25m (£22m) in 2020, the last year for which figures are known. The funds were split between Cosa and other influential groups on the right. They include the American Legislative Exchange Council (Alec), a network of state politicians and corporate lobbyists which has taken up the cry for a constitutional amendment to force balanced budget restrictions on Washington.Much of the income is dark money, with the origins hidden. CMD has managed to identify some key donors – among them the Mercer Family Foundation set up by reclusive hedge fund manager Robert Mercer, and a couple of groups run by Leonard Leo, the mastermind behind the rightwing land grab in the federal courts.More than $1m (£880,265) has also been donated in the form of Bitcoin.The attraction to these groups and donors of pursuing a states route to rewriting the US constitution is easily explained. Over the past 12 years, since the eruption of the Tea Party in 2010, Republican activists have deployed extreme partisan gerrymandering to pull off an extraordinary takeover of state legislatures.Bannon is not finished: his ‘precinct strategy’ could alter US elections for yearsRead moreIn 2010, Republicans controlled both chambers of just 14 state legislatures. Today, that number stands at 31. “Republicans are near the high watermark in terms of their political control in the states, and that’s why the pro-Trump rightwing of the party is increasingly embracing the constitutional convention strategy,” said Arn Pearson, CMD’s executive director.Should a convention be achieved, the plan would be to give states one vote each. There is no legal or historical basis for such an arrangement but its appeal is self-evident.One vote per state would give small rural conservative states like Wyoming (population 580,000) equal leverage to large urbanized progressive states like California (39.5 million). Collectively, small states would be in the majority and control would tip to the Republicans.Last December Santorum spelled out this minoritarian vision at a private ALEC meeting. In an audio recording obtained by CMD, Santorum said: “We have the opportunity, as a result, to have a supermajority, even though we may not even be in an absolute majority when it comes to the people who agree with us.”Pearson decried such thinking as “a profoundly anti-majoritarian and anti-democratic strategy that gives small rural states most control”.With the counting system skewed towards the conservative heartlands, the list of amendments that might be pursued is disconcertingly large. Though Meckler and his allies largely avoid talking about culture war issues, it is quite conceivable that a nationwide ban on abortion and a rescinding of gay marriage would be on the table.More openly, advocates have talked about imposing balanced budget requirements on the US government that would dramatically shrink federal resources. Some have even proposed making income tax unconstitutional.One of the more popular ideas circulating within rightwing constitutional convention circles, initially floated by the talk show host Mark Levin, is that states should grant themselves the ability to override federal statutes and supreme court rulings. It is hard to see how the federal rule of law could be sustained under such an arrangement with its unmistakable civil war undertones.Under Article V, 34 states would have to call for a constitutional convention to reach the two-thirds requirement. Cosa has so far succeeded in getting 19 states to sign up, with a further six in active consideration.ALEC, which sets a narrower remit for a convention focused on its balanced budget amendment, has gone further with 28 states on board.Either way, there is a shortfall. To address it, constitutional convention leaders have invented increasingly exotic mathematical formulas for attaining the magic number, 34. “We used to call it fuzzy math, now we call it wacky math,” Pearson said.Advocates filed a lawsuit in Texas in February that tried to get the courts to force a constitutional convention on grounds that they had reached 34 states already – they cobbled together unrelated state convention calls, including some dating back to the 1800s. In July two bills were also introduced to the US House requiring Congress to call a convention immediately.David Super, a law professor at Georgetown University, said the willingness to adopt outlandish logic should sound further alarm bells. It raised the stakes even higher for the November elections.“The midterms are crucial,” Super said. “Changes at state-level matter, but will not get them to 34 states. If they can take control of Congress, they could bridge the gap.”Paradoxically, what happens to Congress in the midterms could have the biggest impact on the future prospects of a states-based constitutional convention. Should the Republicans take back control of the US House and Senate they would be in a position to advance radical Republicans’ demands.“We’ve already seen a willingness to play fast and loose with the math on all sorts of things in Congress,” Super said. “I would not be surprised if they were to make a serious attempt to adopt one of these bizarre accounting theories should they take control of both chambers in November.”That could mean a rapid dash for a convention before most Americans would have woken up to the danger.“If the Republicans prevail in Congress, they could try to call a convention right away,” Feingold said. “People should know that when they go to vote in November – this could fundamentally undermine their rights in a way that is both disturbing and permanent.”TopicsSteve BannonUS politicsUS constitution and civil libertiesRepublicansfeaturesReuse this content More

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      Biden pledges to codify abortion rights if Democrats win midterms: ‘I’ll sign it in January’ – as it happened

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      There it is. Biden has officially announced that if Democrats gain control of Congress, his first move will be to send a bill codifying Roe v Wade and sign such legislation ahead of the 50th anniversary of the 1973 decision.“I believe Congress should codify Roe, once and for all,” said Biden as the crowd cheered.Biden added: “The first bill that I will send to the Congress will be to codify Roe v Wade … and if Congress passes it, I’ll sign it in January.“Together, we’ll restore the right to choose to every woman, in every state in America,” said Biden, emphasizing that the crowd needed to vote to ensure such protections.That’s it for the US live politics blog today! Here’s a summary of what we covered today:
      Biden promised to codify Roe v wade in his first post-midterms legislation if Democrats keep control of Congress, saying “I’ll sign it in January” during a speech at a DNC event in Washington DC.
      Biden also promised to veto any federal abortion ban that comes across his desk, as Republicans push for a federal ban following the overturn of Roe v wade in June.
      Biden pledged to ban assault weapons during the DNC speech. Biden said, “I did it once, I’ll do it again”, in reference to a ban he helped negotiate as a senator.
      Candidates across key races in Utah, Georgia, and Ohio had heated debates yesterday, with November midterms less than a month away.
      Thank you for reading; see you tomorrow!Could Kathy Hochul be in trouble in New YorkNew York is not a state that too many Democrats have been worried about in recent years. But a couple of recent polls have shown governor Kathy Hochul with only a relatively narrow lead over her Republican opponent. Politico has the details: Two polls Tuesday showed the race for New York governor getting closer than perhaps many had initially expected in the deep-blue state.A Siena College Research Institute poll early Tuesday found Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul held an 11-percentage-point edge over Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin in a state where Democrats have won every statewide race over the past two decades. That was down from a 17-point lead a month ago.Then an even closer poll came out in the afternoon: A Quinnipiac University survey found Hochul with a razor-thin 50 percent to 46 percent lead over Zeldin — putting Zeldin within striking distance of a potentially major upset.“In the blue state of New York, the race for governor is competitive,” Quinnipiac polling analyst Mary Snow said in a statement.Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward announced today that he will be releasing a new audiobook entitled “The Trump Tapes,” which features eight hours of raw interviews with former president Donald Trump. Here’s more background on the book from CNN: .css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}The interviews offer unvarnished insights into the former president’s worldview and are the most extensive recordings of Trump speaking about his presidency — including explaining his rationale for meeting Kim, his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Trump’s detailed views of the US nuclear arsenal. The audio also shows how Trump decided to share with Woodward the letters Kim wrote to him – the letters that helped spark the DOJ investigation into classified documents Trump took to Mar-a-Lago…
      Woodward said in the book’s introduction that he is releasing the recordings in part because “hearing Trump speak is a completely different experience to reading the transcripts or listening to snatches of interviews on television or the internet.”
      He describes Trump as “raw, profane, divisive and deceptive. His language is often retaliatory.”
      “Yet, you will also hear him engaging and entertaining, laughing, ever the host. He is trying to win me over, sell his presidency to me. The full-time salesman,” Woodward said. “I wanted to put as much of Trump’s voice, his own words, out there for the historical record and so people could hear and judge and make their own assessments.”Jean-Pierre also mentioned student loan forgiveness applications that opened on Monday, as lawsuits are still being waged against Biden’s proposal. Jean-Pierre on student debt relief: The president wanted to keep a campaign promise. We’re talking about 40 million borrowers who are going to benefit from this policy.— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) October 18, 2022
      Jean-Pierre has been asked several questions about the economy, specifically about gas prices and inflation. One question centered on the strength of the economy, as Bloomberg economists predict a “100% chance” of a recession, but Jean-Pierre contended that the economy is resilient given economic policies put forth by Biden. Jean-Pierre: “Let’s not forget what the president has done the past 19 months. He has made the economy his top priority.”— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) October 18, 2022
      On oil, Jean-Pierre said that the oil production under Biden has increased, a seeming conflict given Biden’s past comments about transitioning towards cleaner energy options. Jean-Pierre: “There is no shortage of opportunity or incentive for oil companies to ramp up production… The United States has produced more oil in President Biden’s first year than under President Trump’s first year.”— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) October 18, 2022
      A reporter asked a question about Brittney Griner, who turned 32 years old today. Jean-Pierre has said that it is a priority of Biden to get Griner home, as well as Paul Whelan, a former US marine who has been incarcerated in Russia since 2018. Jean-Pierre on Brittney Griner: “Getting Brittney home, getting Paul Whelan home is a priority for this administration… We’re going to continue working through our channels that we have with Russia.”— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) October 18, 2022
      Jean-Pierre would not provide information on Griner’s condition, what access to the WNBA star looks like, or other questions. Jean-Pierre was just asked what Biden’s plan is if Democrats do not keep control in the midterm elections come November. Jean-Pierre responded with: “The way that we make Roe into law is to make sure we have legislation and we codify it. That is the best way to protect women’s rights.”Jean-Pierre: “The way that we make Roe into law is to make sure we have legislation and we codify it. That is the best way to protect women’s rights.”— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) October 18, 2022
      Jean-Pierre added that the president believes that it’s important for people to “make their voices heard”. Jean-Pierre: “He’s always said that what people need to do is make their voices heard.”— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) October 18, 2022
      Jean-Pierre also refused to give a specific number of how many more votes would be enough for Biden to codify Roe. Press briefing is now underway.White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre opened up the conference about the overturning of Roe v wade.Jean-Pierre confirmed again that Biden plans on making Roe v wade the “law of the land” around the 50th anniversary of the Roe v wade’s decision next year.At White House briefing. Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre: “President Biden is continuing to fight to restore reproductive rights for millions of American women… President Biden believes that Roe was rightly decided nearly 50 years ago.” pic.twitter.com/fRXJeH6XnU— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) October 18, 2022
      The White house press briefing should be happening shortly, scheduled for 1:45 pm eastern time. Stay tuned!Biden will be speaking on gas prices tomorrow, said White house chief of staff on Twitter. In a response to comments from Hill reporter Hanna Trudo about Biden’s speech on abortion, Ronald Klain responded that Biden will be speaking about gas prices tomorrow. Abortion as a closing pitch was always going to be a really risky proposition. But up against the economy? It makes it look almost fringe. Of course many people will disagree with this, but the cost of gas is *extremely* important to nearly everyone, abortion is simply not— Hanna Trudo (@HCTrudo) October 18, 2022
      Not an either / or. @POTUS spoke about abortion today, will speak about gas prices tomorrow. https://t.co/pPg6TLGdUX— Ronald Klain (@WHCOS) October 18, 2022
      Biden also pledged to veto any federal abortion ban, warning that Republicans have made efforts to push such legislation. Biden claims Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy would push a national abortion ban if the GOP wins the House:“If Republicans get their way with a national ban, it won’t matter where you live … If such a bill were to pass in the next several years, *whispers* I’ll veto it.” pic.twitter.com/n3dd1FXsNz— The Recount (@therecount) October 18, 2022
      Biden also touched on gun control, promising that if Democrats kept control of Congress in January, he would sign a ban on assault weapons. “And by the way if you give me a Democratic congress we’re going to ban assault weapons again”, said Biden. Biden added: “I did it once, I’ll do it again”, referring to a 10-year ban he negotiated as a senator in 1994. There it is. Biden has officially announced that if Democrats gain control of Congress, his first move will be to send a bill codifying Roe v Wade and sign such legislation ahead of the 50th anniversary of the 1973 decision.“I believe Congress should codify Roe, once and for all,” said Biden as the crowd cheered.Biden added: “The first bill that I will send to the Congress will be to codify Roe v Wade … and if Congress passes it, I’ll sign it in January.“Together, we’ll restore the right to choose to every woman, in every state in America,” said Biden, emphasizing that the crowd needed to vote to ensure such protections.Biden is currently speaking at a DNC event at Howard Theatre. So far, Biden has mentioned that 16 states have passed bans on abortions since the overturning of Roe v Wade in June. .@POTUS says 16 states have enacted abortion bans since Dobbs. “There is so much confusion and uncertainty” for doctors and nurses who just want to do their jobs pic.twitter.com/QuCL1Gkmwo— Mike Memoli (@mikememoli) October 18, 2022
      Biden also warned about the decision having consequences on other issues, calling out justice Clarence Thomas’ opinion that same-sex marriage, contraception, and other issues should be re-examined.The DNC event has started, with abortion rights remaining in the spotlight. From journalist Kellie Meyer:Biden’s backdrop at the DC event today. Keeping abortion in the spotlight ahead of the midterms. The issue energized the base, esp. women voters, after SCOTUS overturned Roe v. Wade in June. New polling showing that energy faded in the fall. We discuss tonight on @NewsNation pic.twitter.com/VsdAtF7fKr— Kellie Meyer (@KellieMeyerNews) October 18, 2022 More

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      House Republicans divided over aid to Ukraine ahead of midterms

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      House Republicans divided over aid to Ukraine ahead of midtermsMcCarthy says Congress won’t ‘write a blank cheque’ while another senior Republicans says Ukrainians should ‘get what they need’ The Republican leader in the House of Representatives has said that Congress would not “write a blank cheque to Ukraine” if his party wins next month’s midterm elections, stoking fears in Kyiv that the flow of military equipment could be cut off.However, another senior Republican said that he thought that the Ukrainians should “get what they need”, including longer-range missiles than those the Biden administration has so far been prepared to supply. Analysts say the mixed messages reflect an internal debate between traditional national security conservatives and the Trumpist wing of the party, where pro-Russian sentiment is much stronger.Ukraine says 30% of its power plants destroyed in last eight daysRead moreKevin McCarthy, the House minority leader, told the Punchbowl News website on Tuesday: “I think people are going to be sitting in a recession and they’re not going to write a blank cheque to Ukraine.”“They just won’t do it,” McCarthy added. “It’s not a free blank cheque. And then there’s the things [the Biden administration] is not doing domestically: not doing the border and people begin to weigh that. Ukraine is important, but at the same time it can’t be the only thing they do, and it can’t be a blank cheque.”A few hours later, however, the ranking Republican on the House foreign affairs committee, Michael McCaul, who is likely to run the committee in the event of a Republican win in November, argued that arms supplies to Ukraine should be stepped up.“We’ve got to give them what they need. When we give them what they need, they win,” McCaul said on the Bloomberg television channel. In particular he referred to the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), which has a longer range than the missiles the administration is currently providing.The Biden administration has withheld ATACMS so far for fear that if they were fired into Russian territory it might lead to a sharp escalation that could end up entangling Nato. McCaul argued that the missiles would be useful for striking Russian missile and drone launching sites in Crimea, adding: “Last time I checked, Crimea is occupied illegally by Russians.”McCaul did add a caveat on US spending on Ukrainian aid, however.“I think you’ll see if we get the majority, more oversight and accountability in terms of funding and where the money’s going, and I think the American taxpayer deserves that,” he said.Elisabeth Braw, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, said the difference in tone reflected internal foreign policy tensions.“This is a good illustration of the two factions within the Republican party,” Braw said. “You’ve got the Trumpian side and then the more traditional Republican side, and on the Ukrainian issue, this has been played out in a very clear fashion.”In another example of the internal friction, the Twitter account of the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC), which is close to the pro-Russian Hungarian leader, Viktor Orbán, put up a post at the end of September asking when Biden and the Democrats would end the “gift-giving to Ukraine”. The tweet was accompanied by a graphic that mentioned the “official annexation” by Russia of four Ukrainian regions, which it described as “Ukrainian occupied”.The tweet was taken down a few hours later and replaced with another describing the original as an “unapproved” statement and one that “belittled the plight of the innocent Ukrainian people”.Who is Tucker Carlson really ‘rooting for’ in Ukraine? Read moreDonald Trump has a long record of admiration for Vladimir Putin and has suggested that the Ukrainians make a deal with him, highlighting the Kremlin’s nuclear threats.“We must demand the immediate negotiation of a peaceful end to the war in Ukraine or we will end up in world war three,” the former president said at a rally this month. “There will be nothing left of our planet – all because stupid people didn’t have a clue … They don’t understand the power of nuclear.”Far-right Trumpist Republicans like Marjorie Taylor Greene have echoed Moscow talking points, suggesting that the Ukrainian government “only exists because the Obama state department helped to overthrow the previous regime”.Victoria Coates, Trump’s former deputy national security adviser, said that such views were held by only a minority in the party.“There is broad bipartisan support for assistance to Ukraine among the American people, so there will be broad bipartisan support in Congress,” Coates said. But she added: “It has just seemed to many of us on the Republican side that the administration is throwing money at the situation … I think we desperately need congressional oversight of additional funds that are appropriated for this purpose.”Coates, now senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, argued that the negotiations that Trump was calling for would not mean putting pressure on Ukraine to make territorial concessions.She said: “I think we have the advantage right now and he would, I assume, agree with that, and that we should, if we do enter into a negotiation, press hard for terms that are favourable to Kyiv and Washington.”TopicsUS foreign policyRepublicansUkraineHouse of RepresentativesUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      New January 6 video contradicts Republican’s claims about Nancy Pelosi

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      New January 6 video contradicts Republican’s claims about Nancy PelosiSteve Scalise questioned whether Democrats sought help on January 6, but video shows him standing near Pelosi as she called for national guard troops The second-highest ranking Republican in the US House, Steve Scalise, is facing criticism for questioning what Democrats did to halt the deadly January 6 Capitol attack on the day of the riots despite being shown on video standing beside chamber speaker Nancy Pelosi as she called for back-up from national guard troops.Scalise, whose Louisiana district includes a large suburban area outside New Orleans, at one point questioned the lengths to which top Democrats went to end the assault on the Capitol staged by a mob of Donald Trump supporters as the former president questioned the results of the 2020 election that he lost to Joe Biden.But a video released last week by the bipartisan House committee investigating the Capitol attack showed Scalise, the Republican whip in the chamber, got an up-close look at the Democratic majority’s leadership trying to summon troops who could help quell the insurrection.The video was timestamped at 3.46pm on the day of the attack. Part of it showed the House majority leader, Democratic Maryland representative Steny Hoyer, saying: “We need active duty national guard.”After some back and forth over whether or not such reinforcements were possible as well as calls by Senator Chuck Schumer to have the grounds evacuated, Pelosi – the House speaker and yet another Democrat – told the person on the phone: “Just pretend for a moment it were the Pentagon or the White House, or some other entity that was under siege. And let me say you can logistically get people there as you make the plan.”The video shows Scalise mere footsteps away from Pelosi, Schumer and Hoyer, listening to them engaging in the conversation about securing the building on speakerphone.Nonetheless, in a news conference held in June to discuss the Capitol attack, Republican Indiana congressman Jim Banks said: “Was Speaker Pelosi involved in the decision to delay National Guard assistance following January 6? Those are serious and real questions that this committee refuses to even ask.”Scalise at that session thanked Banks for those remarks and added: “Banks just raised some very serious questions that should be answered by the January 6 commission, but they’re not. And they’re not for a very specific reason. And that’s because Nancy Pelosi doesn’t want those questions to be answered.”MSNBC’s Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough has since fiercely denounced Scalise for “lying through [his] teeth.”“He was in the room,” Scarborough said. “He was in the room where it happened. … I mean, come on.”The former chair of the Republican National Committee and now frequent critic of the GOP, Michael Steele, said: “Why are we surprised to see Scalise in the room, at the table, next to the phone that’s open for everybody to hear and then go out there and lie about it?”Scalise has not responded to the video released by the January 6 committee or the criticism. But in a statement provided to the New Orleans Times-Picayune newspaper’s website, a spokesperson for Scalise said the Republican whip’s comments at the June press conference referred to broader security failures at the Capitol days rather than singling out any Democrats.The video in question came just weeks ahead of the 8 November midterm. Scalise is expected to easily win another term as the House representative for Louisiana’s first congressional district, with his only real challenger being Democratic candidate Katie Darling.Darling did capture some national attention after a recent campaign ad featuring her pregnant and calling out the extremely restrictive Louisiana abortion laws that went into effect after the US supreme court in June voted to overturn the nationwide right to terminate a pregnancy that had been established by the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade case.The ad shows Darling going to the hospital in a wheelchair as she is about to give birth – then holding her infant baby.“We should be putting pregnant women at ease, not putting their lives at risk,” she says in the political spot.In the ad, Darling is seen going to a hospital by wheelchair as she is about to give birth. Then, while holding her newborn son in the hospital, she looks at the camera and declares, “I’m running for Congress … for him.”Scalise and his Republican colleagues hope to seize back control of both the House and the Senate, where the Democrats have razor-thin advantages going into the midterms.TopicsUS Capitol attackLouisianaUS midterm elections 2022RepublicansUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      Obama admits Democrats can be a ‘buzzkill’ and urges better messaging

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      Obama admits Democrats can be a ‘buzzkill’ and urges better messagingPresident says he ‘used to get into trouble’ by being too policy-focused as Democrats brace for losing House majority Barack Obama acknowledged Democrats can be “a buzzkill” with their abstract campaign messaging and could better connect with voters by emphasizing what constituents feel in their day to day lives.During an interview on Pod Save America, released Friday, Obama acknowledged that he “used to get into trouble” when he appeared too professorial, including by standing behind a lectern and talking about policy in theoretical ways that didn’t directly connect with voters.‘Desperate and disgraceful’: candidates spar in heated debates as US midterms near – liveRead more“That’s not how people think about these issues,” Obama said, less than a month before his party tries to hang on to control of both congressional chambers during the 8 November midterms. “They think about them in terms of, you know, the life I’m leading day to day. How does politics … how is it even relevant to the things that I care most deeply about?“My family, my kids, work that gives me satisfaction, having fun, not being a buzzkill, right?”He added: “And sometimes Democrats are, right? You know, sometimes, people just want to not feel as if they are walking on eggshells. And they want some acknowledgment that life is messy and that all of us at any given moment can say things the wrong way, make mistakes.”Obama went on to talk about his 86-year-old mother-in-law, Marian Robinson, whom he said was trying to learn “the right phraseology” to talk about issues. The former first lady Michelle Obama had said that was like “trying to learn Spanish” for her mother.“It doesn’t mean she shouldn’t try to learn Spanish, but it means that sometimes she’s not gonna get the words right,” the former president said. “And that’s OK, right?“And that attitude, I think, of just being a little more real and a little more grounded is something that I think goes a long way in counteracting what is the systematic propaganda that I think is being pumped out by Fox News and all these other outlets all the time.”Facing a slew of culture-war attack lines from Republicans, Democrats have sometimes become embroiled in their own debates over proper terminology, including the use of the term “Latinx” and “defund the police”. Democratic research from February found that voters could find the party “preachy”, “judgmental”, and “focused on the culture wars”, Politico reported.“Wokeness is a problem and everyone knows it,” Democratic pundit James Carville, the former strategist for Bill Clinton, told Vox last year. “There’s nothing inherently wrong with these phrases. But this is not how people talk.“This stuff is harmless in one sense, but in another sense it’s not.”Obama’s comments came as Democrats are bracing to likely lose their majority in the US House while hoping that they can retain the Senate.A recent New York Times/Siena poll found that 49% of likely voters said they would cast their ballot for a Republican candidate, compared to 45% for Democrats in congressional races. One of the most alarming findings for Democrats in the poll was the swing to Republicans among women who identified as independents. Last month, independent women backed Democrats by 14%, but the October poll found they now backed Republicans by 18%.Overall, women were split 47% to 47% on whether they would support Democrats or Republican congressional candidates. Democrats had an 11-point advantage last month in the poll.“I’m shifting more towards Republican because I feel like they’re more geared towards business,” Robin Ackerman, a 37-year-old Democrat in New Castle, Delaware, told the New York Times.TopicsBarack ObamaUS midterm elections 2022US politicsDemocratsRepublicansReuse this content More

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      Why pro-Israel lobby group Aipac is backing election deniers and extremist Republicans

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      Why pro-Israel lobby group Aipac is backing election deniers and extremist RepublicansThe group places support for Israel over all over considerations, endorsing extreme rightwing candidates in the midterm elections The US’s largest pro-Israel lobby group is backing dozens of racists, homophobes and election deniers running for Congress next month because they have pledged to defend Israel against stiffening criticism of its oppression of the Palestinians.The powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) has justified endorsing Republicans with extremist views, including members of Congress with ties to white supremacist groups and representatives who attempted to block Joe Biden’s election victory, on the grounds that the singular issue of support for Israel trumps other considerations.But Aipac’s support for rightwing politicians has privately embarrassed some Democrats also endorsed by the powerful group and drawn accusations from more moderate pro-Israel organisations that it is attempting to stifle legitimate criticism of hardline Israeli policies.Pro-Israel lobbying group Aipac secretly pouring millions into defeating progressive DemocratsRead moreLogan Bayroff, a spokesman for J Street, a group campaigning for Washington to take a stronger stand to end the occupation of Palestinian territories, accused Aipac of attempting to impose a narrow definition of what it is to be pro-Israel amid shifting views in Democratic ranks.“Their actions have made clear that they view pro-Israel, pro-peace progressive Democrats as threats – and Trumpist Republicans as allies. That worldview could not be more out of touch with the vast majority of American Jews,” he said.“Aipac may hope to silence and intimidate political leaders who believe that settlement expansion, endless conflict and permanent occupation are harmful to Israel, the Palestinian people and US interests. Ultimately, however, these common-sense views are too popular, widespread and important to be suppressed, and will continue to gain strength within American politics and among the American Jewish community.”Aipac’s backing of extreme rightwing Republicans follows its $27m advertising campaign during the Democratic primaries to defeat candidates who spoke up for Palestinian rights, mostly with attacks over issues that had nothing to do with Israel.The campaign is part of push by more hawkish pro-Israel groups to shore up support in Congress in the face of rising advocacy for the Palestinian cause within the Democratic party and erosion of approval for Israeli actions among American Jews, particularly younger people.Earlier this year, the Israeli foreign ministry director general, Alon Ushpiz, said protecting bipartisan support for the Jewish state in the US was at the top of a list of Israel’s diplomatic priorities amid wider government concern about the impact of a series of international human rights reports that it is practicing a form of apartheid over the Palestinians.Among those candidates endorsed by Aipac is the New York congresswoman Elise Stefanik, a Trump loyalist whose home town newspaper criticised her for “despicable” advertising and “hateful rhetoric” that promoted the racist and antisemitic “great replacement theory”, claiming the US is being flooded with immigrants to outvote white people. The Times Union accused Stefanik of “fear-based political tactics”.Another candidate backed by Aipac, the Pennsylvania congressman Scott Perry, pushed the same theory when he told a foreign affairs committee meeting “native-born” Americans are being replaced in order “to permanently transform the landscape of this very nation”.Aipac has also endorsed other candidates who have associated with QAnon, the far-right conspiracy theory. Among them are the Georgia congressman Buddy Carter, who attended a QAnon-linked rally claiming links between Democrats and child sex rings, and a Florida congresswoman, Kat Cammack, who appeared on QAnon-related channels including Patriots’ Soapbox.Other Republicans backed by Aipac have appeared on Patriots’ Soapbox. They include the Utah congressman Burgess Owens, who has promoted claims by the far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his Infowars website, including anti-migrant diatribes and false claims of election rigging. Owens distributed an Infowars article that smeared the bereaved Muslim father of a US soldier by pushing an unfounded suggestion that his legal work helped the 9/11 hijackers enter the US.Aipac has endorsed Rick Allen, a Georgia congressman who refused to debate a fellow Republican at an Islamic community centre, calling it a “suspect venue”.The hawkish lobby group is also backing candidates known for anti-LGBTQ+ views. They include Mark Green, a Tennessee congressman who once said “transgender is a disease”, as well as members of Congress who denounced the supreme court ruling making marriage equality a right.Aipac’s approved list includes Steve Scalise, who opposed the end of anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination in the military, and Randy Weber, who broke down in tears as he begged God to forgive the US for the supreme court judgement.“Father, oh Father, please forgive us,” he pleaded.‘Morally bankrupt’: outrage after pro-Israel group backs insurrectionist RepublicansRead moreAipac support for far-right and homophobic candidates flies in the face of its routine defence of Israel as a liberal democracy surrounded by authoritarian Arab regimes.Pro-Israel groups routinely deflect criticism of what Israel’s leading human rights group, B’Tselem, called its “regime of Jewish supremacy” over Palestinians, systematic discrimination against Israel’s Arab citizens and the recent “nation-state” law that places Jewish identity over democracy, by emphasising Israel’s democratic credentials.Aipac has consistently pushed the message that Israel is “the only LGBTQ+-friendly country in the Middle East”.Last year, during one of Israel’s periodic assaults on Gaza that killed hundreds of Palestinians, the lobby group again resorted to what has become known as “pink washing” when it tweeted: “Do you support LGBTQ+ rights? Hamas doesn’t. Hamas discriminates against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people.”Aipac caused upset among its supporters earlier this year when it endorsed more than 100 Republican members of Congress who refused to certify Biden’s 2020 election victory. The list again includes Scott, who voted against awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to officers who defended the Capitol on January 6.Richard Haass, a former US diplomat and president of the Council on Foreign Relations, described the endorsement of politicians who “undermine democracy” as “morally bankrupt and short-sighted”. The former head of the strongly pro-Israel Anti-Defamation League, Abe Foxman, described the endorsement of election deniers as a “sad mistake” .Aipac has defended its backing of extremists on the grounds that support for Israel is more important that other issues.“This is no moment for the pro-Israel movement to become selective about its friends,” the group said in a message to supporters earlier this year.“The one thing that guarantees Israel’s ability to defend itself is the enduring support of the United States. When we launched our political action committee last year, we decided that we would base decisions about political contributions on only one thing: whether a political candidate supports the US-Israel relationship. Not on any other issue – just this one.”Although some Democrats have faced calls to reject Aipac’s endorsement, a senior staffer for one member of Congress said they were not prepared to get into a public confrontation with the lobby group.“Aipac is now an embarrassment but frankly it’s too powerful to go up against,” the staffer said. “We don’t need them pouring money in against us so we hold off on the public criticisms. But that doesn’t mean to say there are not some serious policy differences, particularly on Iran.”Aipac is not alone.The Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI) was founded three years ago to bolster support for Israel within the party after polls showed younger supporters increasingly wanted to see Washington take a stronger stand in favour of the Palestinians.Differences within the party were thrown into sharp relief recently when a row blew up over comments by the Palestinian American congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, who said there was a contradiction between backing policies that oppress Palestinians and claiming to be progressive.“I want you all to know that among progressives, it becomes clear that you cannot claim to hold progressive values yet back Israel’s apartheid government,” she told an Americans for Justice in Palestine conference.Although Tlaib’s comments were directed at Israeli government actions, she was denounced by fellow Democrats who accused her of questioning Israel’s right to exist. They included Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a former chair of the Democratic National Committee backed by Aipac and the DMFI.“The outrageous progressive litmus test on Israel by Rashida Tlaib is nothing short of antisemitic. Proud progressives do support Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish and democratic state. Suggesting otherwise is shameful and dangerous. Divisive rhetoric does not lead to peace,” she tweeted.Americans for Peace Now, a sister organisation to Israel’s Peace Now movement, backed Tlaib.“No part of what [Tlaib] said is antisemitic. Weaponizing accusations of antisemitism cheapens the real fight against antisemitism and does nothing to make Jews safer,” it said.Aipac responded to questions about its support of extremist candidates by saying their views on issues other than Israel were not relevant.“Our sole factor for supporting Democratic and Republican candidates is their support for strengthening the US-Israel relationship,” said a spokesman, Marshall Wittmann.“Indeed, our political action committee has supported scores of pro-Israel progressive candidates including over half of the Congressional Black Caucus and Hispanic Caucus and almost half of the Progressive Caucus. Our political involvement has shown that it is entirely consistent with progressive politics to support America’s alliance with our democratic ally, Israel.”TopicsUS political lobbyingUS midterm elections 2022LobbyingUS politicsRepublicansIsraelfeaturesReuse this content More